Surgical endodontics

Root canal treatment usually fails because infection remains within the root canal. An orthograde attempt at re-treatment should always be considered first. However, when surgery is indicated, modern microtechniques coupled with surgical magnification will lead to a better prognosis. Careful management of the hard and soft tissues is essential, specially designed ultrasonic tips should be used for root end preparation which should ideally be sealed with MTA. All cases should be followed up until healing is seen, or failure accepted, and should form a part of clinical audit.     

Incidence of bacteremias related to endodontic procedures. II. Surgical endodontics.

Blood samples were taken from patients immediately after specific surgical endodontic procedures and immediately after single-tooth extractions. The incidence of bacteremias produced by these procedures was determined. The source of the blood-borne micro organisms was confirmed as the operative site.     

Surgical laser use in implantology and endodontics

The use of surgical lasers has been advocated to aid in the placement and second stage recovery of dental implants, together with soft tissue contouring. In addition, laser use has been suggested as an aid in decontamination of the implant surface in cases of peri-implantitis. In endodontics, the association of laser energy with dentine hypersensitivity, bacteriocidal action and pulp-capping, has led to a growing number of reports as to its beneficial use, together with claims of morphological changes in the canal wall, to enhance endodontic treatment success.     

Surgical endodontics: post‐surgical care

The post‐surgical management of the patient is as important as the treatment planning for surgery and the surgical management of the patient. Patients who do not receive adequate and contemporary post‐surgical instructions or who ignore these instructions are predisposed to untoward sequelae, including pain, swelling and possible infection, in addition to the potential for altered healing of both the oral soft tissues and supporting osseous structures. It is the endodontic surgeon's professional responsibility to ensure that verbal and written instructions are provided to patients that clearly define activities during the critical, early healing process. Furthermore, it is imperative that the endodontic surgeon have a complete understanding of and rationale for the instructions being given to the patient.     

Surgical endodontics: past,present, and future

“… every age should profit by the experience of the preceding ones; but without a record of what has been accomplished each investigator (or clinician) commences a new series of trials (or treatment modalities), and wanders over the same ground in search of truths (or outcomes) which have long been discovered; or adopt theories (or practices) that have been long ago discarded.”* (Note: present author's inserts in italics)
*Patrick JJR. The first period in the history of dentistry. Dent Rev 1889: 3: 426–437.     

Microscopes in endodontics.

The introduction of microscopes in clinical and surgical endodontics is fairly recent. Potential applications, including removal of fractured instruments, localizing calcified canals, soft tissue management and root-end procedures, are reviewed.     

Pain in endodontics. 1986

A frequent problem in endodontics is the development of pain and swelling during or after endodontic therapy. Although the reasons for such exacerbations are not always clear, there are a number of hypotheses which will be discussed in this article.     

Pain control in endodontics.

Pain control in endodontics is paramount to patient acceptance of this special area of dental care. Alleviating existing pain is the primary objective of root canal therapy. This paper focuses on the control of pulp and periradicular pain at initial presentation and subsequent to the first visit.